Master Of Death
by J. Harker
Summary: A mysterious request from the Italian Ministry leads Head Auror Harry Potter to go international in order to solve a case with "unusual circumstances." Once again the famed hero finds himself in over his head when he uncovers a dangerous secret. Sure, he knew vampires were real, but this was something else entirely. Likewise, the Volturi are finding him...difficult. AU, SLASH
1. I guess I'm going to Italy

**A/N:** Sorry for the hideously short chapter, I didn't expect to have the vacate the computer so early, I'll be back later tonight with a new chapter. I hope this is a decent intro, it's not beta-ed, I apologize for that so bear with me. It does get better.

**WARNING: **This fic WILL contain explicit content later on as well as violence, foul language, death and possibly sarcasm. If you do not approve of homosexual relationships then this is not for you.

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Having faced much adversity in his daunting childhood there were few things Harry Potter was absolutely certain of. The first being that which can happen... will happen to _him_, the second being that Draco Malfoy is most _definitely_ losing his hair, and the third ... he will have pumpkin juice with his breakfast every morning. Therefore to say he was surprised when, on a dull, cold Tuesday morning of 2009, he ran out of pumpkin juice would have been...a lie. He had traversed to the ice box in his boxers, having already foregone the notion of going to work that day, with the intent of procuring his favorite beverage. Bleary-eyed he reached for the handle and with a half-hearted tug pulled the door open. He bent down and peered groggily into the too bright refrigerator. Reaching in he grabbed the chilly metal pitcher of pumpkin off the near-empty shelf and pulled back, at which point the already crookedly placed glasses slipped off his nose and clattered to the floor. In a last ditch effort to rescue them Harry jerked both arms backs, his left palm wide open to catch them, the pitcher cradled in his right. Upon exiting the fridge, the original trajectory of the pumpkin juice was thrown off course, hitting the top shelf of the ice box and successfully ejecting itself from Harry's fingers and crashing to the floor on top of his glasses. Being blind without them, Harry failed to save them and thus the right lens was cracked and sticky from the pumpkin juice he wouldn't having this morning. Bollocks.

Sighing dejectedly, Harry cleaned the mess, repaired his glasses and took the Daily Prophet into the sitting room by the fireplace. This marked the beginning of a two week long vacation that Harry had been very much looking forward to. It was decided by himself, with the advice of his best friends, that he should use this time to reconsider his future. At twenty-nine years old he was one of the world's most successful young wizards and not just because he defeated Voldemort. He became an auror after the war and quickly rose through the rank to become Head of Office as well as the Secretary of S.P.E.W. However, he found himself to be dissatisfied with his life. He loved his job, his friends, his quaint home in Godric's Hollow and yet he felt...cold. He wasn't depressed by any means, he still enjoyed the things he always did. Harry merely surmised that this feeling came not having anyone to share those things with! When that person didn't turn out to be Ginny, he was ok with that. They remained steadfast friends and had even grown closer because of it. After all, she was the first to help him come to terms with his sexuality. So in the years following he thought one day he'd meet a nice bloke and settle down and perhaps adopt a variety of ethnic babies. That was ten years ago.

Harry shook his head to clear his thoughts and looked down to focus on the paper when the fireplace flared to life in emerald green flames. Tossing his newspaper on the small table next to his chair, effectively knocking over a day-old cup of cold tea to the carpet along with some junk mail. Harry pinched bridge of his nose in slight annoyance and took a deep breath.

"Harry, you all right mate?" Ron's voice called out from the fireplace.

Harry raised his head to look over at his best friend's face in the embers. "What is it, Ron?" he asked wearily.

Ron eyed him skeptically when he dodged the question before letting it go. Chalking it to Harry simply being irritated that his holiday was being interrupted this early in the morning. "We have a problem."

"Of course we do." Harry muttered.

"People have been going missing in Volterra, Italy. Most of them are muggle tourists-"

"Sounds like a problem for the muggle government." He responded absently.

Ron continued on as if uninterrupted, " -a lot of them seem to be foreign to Italy itself so the government hasn't stepped in-"

"Still a muggle problem."

"-six wizards have gone missing..."

"Sounds like a problem for the Italian Ministry..."

"-two of them are British."

At that Harry froze. Ron smirked wryly, now he had his attention.

"Go on." Harry said, suddenly intrigued.

"The circumstances are unusual. Volterra is known to be widely muggle, there's not even a reasonably sized population of squibs and there are no wizarding folk registered in the area."

"Doesn't mean there isn't one terrorizing the populace. What do the Italian's have to say about it?"

"They want to collaborate."

"...And?" Harry asked impatiently, "Do they have any idea who or what's behind it?"

"If they do, they aren't sharing the details with me. The Head Auror specifically requested that you and only you come speak with them, in person, in Rome tomorrow."

Harry snorted derisively. Yeah, right, like that was going to happen. "Did you tell him I'm on holiday?"

"Yeah, mate, _she_ doesn't care. They seem pretty bloody desperate if you ask me. It's all real sketchy, but it might be worth checking out. Worst comes to worst you can decline and spend the rest of your vacation in Italy."

Harry raised an eyebrow, "You think I should go?"

"Honestly, Harry, I think it might be good for you to get off the isle. And they do sound like they need help, we owe it the families who-

"All right! All right!" Harry exclaimed, shifting uncomfortably as he blocked off the impending guilt trip. Sighing with resignation he glared at Ron. "I guess I'm going to Italy."


	2. Secrecy

It was late afternoon the next day that Harry found himself in the atrium of the Italian Ministry, where he was immediately accosted by five aurors before he could even get a good look around the gold and white building. The entire corridor looked like it had been evacuated. Harry was expecting a crowd of onlookers and a swarm of reporters and paparazzi. They immediately ushered him along to a lift, four of them piled in with him in between while one stayed behind, probably to make sure no one saw them. Harry was alarmed by their behavior but made no move to resist. He tried talking to them but they didn't respond and Harry didn't know if they couldn't speak English or just refused to. When the lift opened again, he was greeted by more aurors and yet another empty corridor. They moved in as though sheltering him and lead him down twisting hallways to their destination. Along the way Harry tried to catch a glimpse of his surroundings through the cocoon of aurors but to no prevail. They arrived to a set of large, ornate golden doors. Harry was quickly herded through them and once on the other side the aurors dispersed and the doors shut quietly behind him.

Before him, across the white marble floor was a large, dark wooden desk sat on an elaborately embroidered gold and green rug in the middle of a pretentiously large, round room. Beautifully arched, golden framed, floor to ceiling windows graced every inch of the walls including either side of the door. Fascinated, Harry watched as the view changed from crystal blue to a swirling cosmic blend of green, vibrant blue and purple, dotted with pinpricks of starlight. It reminded him of the ceiling in the Great Hall at Hogwarts. The ceiling here, however, was flat, giving the room a disc-like appearance. Murals covered every inch of it, wizards dueled across one scene into the next, couples danced, animals scurried about, chasing one another. It was incredible, Harry thought, staring at it in awe.

"Mister Potter!"

Startled Harry turned his attention to the two people in the room with him. One was a short woman who looked to be in her late middle ages, dressed in red auror robes with her long, curly brown hair clipped back out of her face. A few lines adorned her olive-toned skin but her gorgeous brown eyes shone with exuberance. The other was an older, tall, wiry-looking gentleman with salt and pepper hair, slicked back and tastefully cropped close around the ears. The woman approached him first, offering her hand, "Mister Potter, thank you for coming." She greeted him. Her accent was thick but she spoke clearly.

Harry shook her hand politely, "I would thank you for inviting me if I knew why I was here." He knew it may have been a bit rude but after the treatment he got, he was left feeling very agitated.

She opened her mouth to respond but was cut off by the other man. "Mister Potter, you must forgive our conduct when you arrived. It was a necessary precaution to ensure secrecy. This is a delicate matter. My name is Scipio Vitali I am the Minister's personal assistant and this is Chief Auror Anna Basile, we do greatly appreciate your assistance."

Harry nodded, already he didn't like this man, he seemed too polished, too..._oily_. He was quickly becoming more and more aware that there was something underhanded going on here. "Why all the secrecy?"

"Do sit down, Mister Potter."

Harry followed the two of them to a set of lush chairs situated off the side around a fire pit that was just a decorative as the rest of the room. A tea set appeared on a small pedestal and Scipio took his time in pouring them each a cup. Just as Harry was becoming even more annoyed at the delay, he was handed a cup and Scipio settled back, a picture of ease. Anna was perched stiffly on her own chair and she put down her own tea without touching it.

She looked to Harry with a stern expression that remind him of McGonagall, "As you know Volterra is a place with many historical attractions and vanishing tourists isn't unusual itself, especially foreign ones. That is why the muggle government hasn't issued a thorough investigation. When one wizard goes missing it is little cause for alarm, but six?" At this she shook her head. Scipio cleared his throat, shooting her a pointed look.

Harry narrowed his eyes suspiciously, "So you're telling me these people just...vanished? Without a trace? Someone is out there picking off grown wizards and witches and no one has any idea what happened to them? Are there any suspects?"

Anna sighed, "We believe there is an organization kidnapping these people and using them for... sinister purposes." She hesitated before speaking again, "There are no witnesses, everyone who has gone missing are ordinary people who won't be missed."

"Except by their families."

"Yes...of course."

Scipio stood up, "Mister Potter. One of the victims is the minister's daughter. She was on a holiday with her school friends when she disappeared three days ago. Finding her is our ultimate priority."

Harry glared at him in disdain, "Oh, I see. Never mind several other people have lost their loved ones to this 'organization' over the years, now that someone important as the minister's daughter is involved it's suddenly serious."

Anna looked down as if in shame but Scipio met his glare head on, "It may sound cold to you, Mister Potter, but that is simply the reality of things. Besides, if you help us you may discover what happened to the wizards of your own country."

"I never said I wasn't going to help but don't expect me to perform miracles. Do we have any leads at all? Evidence?"

With some embarrassment Anna admitted that no initial investigation has been made. Harry was beginning to seriously doubt the competence of the Italian Minister.

"Now I'm afraid we're on a schedule, the halls won't be vacated for much longer. You must go, Mister Potter, you will shown to a hotel and we will send you further information by owl."

Harry gaped at him in disbelief, "You can't be serious! I've only just arrived and you've barely told me anything!"

"I do apologize and we are all grateful for your being here but it is imperative that your presence remain a secret. More will be revealed in time."

He was escorted from the building much in the same way he arrived. As promised an auror took him to a very nice hotel where a suite was ready and paid for. His luggage was all there when he entered the lavishly decorated room. Harry threw his coat onto a cream colored couch and paced along the length of soft white carpet. This whole situation set off warning bells in his head. He thought once he got here everything would be explained but as if he was back in school, struggling to get answers out of Dumbledore. The inconceivable frustration was still the same, fortunately he wasn't the same rash teenager as he had been back then. Despite the suspicious behavior, the interference with his vacation, and the oncoming anxiety, Harry knew he was going to see this case through. He had to, maybe it was his inherent hero complex, maybe he just felt lost without an adventure but Harry ached for this challenge.

He should have known when he spilled his pumpkin juice yesterday morning that something bad was going to happen.

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**A/N:** I think short chapters are going to be a thing for me. Next one will be here tomorrow. I feel as though I'm rushing it a bit but I really just wanna to get to the juicy bits already. Once again I'm sorry for any mistakes, please feel free to point them out so I can fix them.

Additionally someone asked me to make this Caius/Harry instead of an Aro/Harry. What do you think?


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